Initial strand end snagger



March 12, 1963 J. V. KEITH INITIAL STRAND END SNAGGER Filed April 21,1961 JNVEN JOHN V. KEI

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ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,081,044 INITIAL STRAND END SNAGGER JohnVernon Keith, Warwick,'R.I., assignor to Lecsona Corporation, Cranston,Rl, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Apr. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 194,7653 Claims. (Cl. 242-18) The present invention relates to winding machinesand more particularly relates to such a machine for .winding acontinuously advancing strand of yarn having means for starting thewinding cycle.

In the following specification and claims the term yarn? is employed ina general, sense to apply to all kinds of strand material, eithertextile or otherwise, and the designation package is intendedto mean theproduct of the winding machine whatever its form.

In "the manufacture of yarnand more particularly in the manufacture ofsynthetic yarn the output of the spinning machine is a strand of yarnwhich is continuously advancing at a high rate of speed; One of theproblems of synthetic manufacture is to catch this running strand ofyarn, secure it to the spindle of a winding machine, and place thewinding machine in operation to wind the strand at the same rate that itis advanced by the spinning machine, all while the strand iscontinuously running or advancing. All of this must be accomplishedwithout permitting any slack or excess yarn to accumulate between thewinding machine spindle and the spinning machine and without breakingthe running strand of yarn.

Application Serial Number 644,783, now Patent No. 2,998,202, filed March8, 1957 by John V. Keith and Carlton A. Steele for Textile Machinediscloses a winding machine capable of catching arunningstrand of yarn,securing it to the winding spindle and placing the winding machine inoperation.

The widing machine disclosed in said application Serial Number 644,783has a movable finger mounted on the winding spindle which is movablefrom a first position to a second position under the influence ofcentrifugal force so that when it is in said second position it willcatch the running strand of yarn to start the winding cycle. Thismovable finger is held in its retractedposition by means of a spring theforce of which is overcome by centrifugal force to cause the finger toextend into the yarn path. It has been found that this finger extends tothe second position somewhat slowly as centrifugal force builds up tomove the finger and it occasionally happens that this relatively slowadvance of the finger causes it to catch only part of the filamentsmaking up the yarn bundle.

It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide awinding .machine'having means for securing a continuously advancingstrand of yarn to the spindle thereof wherein said means will operaterapidly to avoid damaging the winding strand of yarn.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a winding machinehaving means for automatically securing a continuously advancing strandof yarn to the spindle thereof wherein said means will move intooperative position rapidly when the winding spindle reaches apredetermined speed.

Other objects of the invention will be obvious and will in part appearhereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing theconstruction combination of elements and arrangement of parts, which areexemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For afuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the follow- 3,031,044 Patented. Man. 12,.1963

ice

ing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIGURE I is an end view of the winding spindle of a winding machine andthe'cap thereon showing the man'- ner in which the strands of yarn arepositioned'thereon prior to the start of the winding cycle;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cap showing the yarn catching finger in itsretracted position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing .the finger in itsextended position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line IV-IV inFIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line V--Vof FIG.3.

The present invention comprises a cap or end piece fixed to the end ofthe winding spindle of a winding machine and having. mounted thereon afinger which is projected by centrifugal force into the yarn path tocatch a strand of yarn and to cause it to start winding on the windingspindle. The cap or end piece of the. present invention can be employedon any suitable winding machine, as for exampleflhewinding machinedescribed in detail in said patent application 644,783. Inasmuch as thewinding machine as a whole is not pertinent to the present invention nofurther description of a winding machine is deemed necessary or thoughtdesirable herein.

The outermost end of winding spindle 12 has a cap 14 fixed thereon byany convenient means as, for example, a key not shown, and retainingring 16. The diameter of cap 14 is slightly smaller than the innerdiameter of the package receiving core which will be mounted on thespindle so that the core will slide over the cap when an empty core isplaced on the spindle 12 and when a wound package is removed therefrom.Cap 14 has a frustoconical nose 17 axially aligned with and fixed toannular flange 18. Slot 20 is formed in the periphery of flange 18 at anangle of approximately 45 to the longitudinal axis of the cap and hasyarn engaging member 21 pivotally mounted therein. Yarn engaging member21 is generally triangular in shape, formed from magnetic material, andis provided with a yarn catching finger 22 atone apex thereof as anextension of one side. Member 21 is pivotally mounted in slot 20 withfinger 22 7 adjacent the periphery of flange-like base 18 and directedtowards nose 17 by the stud 23 which passes through an aperture in saidmember adjacent a second apex thereof and threadedly engages cap 14. Aspring 24 surrounds stud 23 and has one of its ends selectively engagedin one of the holes 25 formed in the member 21 adjacent the third apex27 thereof. The other end of spring 24 is in engagement with theshoulder 26 overhanging stud 23 to resiliently urge said member 21inwardly of said cap with finger 22 retracted into slot Zil. A pluralityof holes 25 are provided in member 21 so that the spring loading on saidmember can be changed. A boss 23 projects rearwardly of and beneath thethird apex 27 of yarn engaging member 21. A bore 29 is formed in saidboss and a bar magnet 39 is adjustably mounted in said bore by means ofa set screw 31. Suitable guides 33 and 34 are mounted on the windingmachine to guide the running strand of yarn from the spinning machineacross the frusto-conical nose 17.

The yarn engaging member 21 functions in the following manner to catch arunning strand of yarn and to start the winding cycle. The runningstrand of yarn is guided across the frusto-conical nose 17, by means ofguides 33 and 34. As the speed of rotation of spindle 12 increases theapex 27 of member 21 is urged radially outwardly by centrifugal force.However, spring 2-4 and magnet 34 hold said apex radially inwardly untilsuch time as the rotation of the spindle has attained the predetermineddesired speed at which' it is desired to catch the running strand ofyarn Y. When that speed is reached the centrifugal force in apex 27 willbe sufiiciently great to cause that apex to break away from magnet 30and to project finger 22 across frusto-conical nose 17 to catch saidstrand of yarn Y. Inasmuch as the attraction exerted by a magnet on apiece of magnetic material varies inversely with the square of thedistance a very small movement of apex 27 will greatly reduce the forcetending to retain it in slot 20 thus permitting finger 22 to beprojected from the slot with great rapidity. Obviously spring 24 willexert some holding force on member 21. iowever, spring 21 should berelatively weak to exert very little holding force on said finger and toprimarily serve the purpose of returning said member 21 to contact withmagnet 30 when the spindle has been stopped. The rotational speed atwhich finger 22 will move out of slot 26 can be changed by changing themagnetic force exerted upon member 21 by magnet 30. This can beaccomplished by substituting stronger or weaker magnets or by movingmagnet 39 towards or away from apex 27.

Since changes may be made in the above apparatus without departing fromthe scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in the limitingsense.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for use with a rotatable winding spindle and adapted tocatch a running strand of yarn to start said strand winding upon saidspindle comprising a mem- "ber mounted on said spindle for rotationtherewith, said member having a nose portion contacted by the runningstrand, a yarn engaging finger movably mounted on said member andmovable in response to rotation of the member from a retracted positionadjacent said nose portion to a projected position wherein it extendsover part of said nose, a permanent magnet rotatable with said memberfor holding said finger in said retracted position, the magnetic holdingforce exerted on said finger by said magnet being such that it isovercome by the centrifugal force on said finger when a predeterminedspeed of rotation is attained whereby said finger is released formovement to said projected position.

2. A device for use with a rotatable winding spindle as defined in claim1 wherein said member is provided with a flange adjacent said nose, saidflange having a slot formed therein and said finger being mounted insaid slot.

3. A device for use with a rotatable winding spindle as defined in claim2 wherein said finger is pivotally mounted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS3,009,662 Furst Nov. 21, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 840,579 Great Britain July6, 1960

1. A DEVICE FOR USE WITH A ROTATABLE WINDING SPINDLE AND ADAPTED TOCATCH A RUNNING STRAND OF YARN TO START SAID STRAND WINDING UPON SAIDSPINDLE COMPRISING A MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SPINDLE FOR ROTATIONTHEREWITH, SAID MEMBER HAVING A NOSE PORTION CONTACTED BY THE RUNNINGSTRAND, A YARN ENGAGING FINGER MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID MEMBER ANDMOVABLE IN RESPONSE TO ROTATION OF THE MEMBER FROM A RETRACTED POSITIONADJACENT SAID NOSE PORTION TO A PROJECTED POSITION WHEREIN IT EXTENDSOVER PART OF